ISO sets standards across multiple industries, including global financial services. While its upgrade may appear purely technical and have minimal immediate ramifications for average banking clients, it will ultimately bring many benefits that will filter down to them.
Cryptos such as XRP, XinFin, ALGO and IOTA already comply with ISO 20022, so they will likely benefit greatly as SWIFT updates to ISO 20022 by 2023.
Regulatory Alignment
ISO 20022 protocol is a standardized communication system designed to facilitate seamless integration with traditional banking and financial systems. This integration ensures faster speeds, reduced costs, enhanced security and compatibility with modern innovations like Distributed Ledger Technology and cryptocurrency platforms.
This standard was created to streamline messaging for domestic and cross-border payments, cash reporting and other data across global payment networks. Banks find its structure straightforward for processing payments and reporting data with reduced manual intervention required to report information; improving straight through processing times while increasing accuracy. It also assists compliance with sanctions regulations by providing comprehensive data screening/monitoring which helps build up resistance against fraud.
ISO-compliant cryptos will have an edge in the banking industry as they’ll be compatible with established financial systems like XRP’s fast and secure cross-border payments solution for enterprise customers, though other ISO-compliant options provide more decentralized international payment services.
Enhanced Data Management
ISO 20022 provides banks with transaction information governed by regulatory standards that helps reduce friction and enhance service for their corporate clients, such as automated receivables matching powered by remittance data or providing tailored products and services based on payment histories – for instance financial advice tailored specifically to each company.
Cryptos that meet ISO compliance will more easily integrate into existing payment and settlement processes, giving institutions easier access to them as payment and settlement solutions. This could increase acceptance for these digital assets while simultaneously strengthening liquidity and value.
However, the rise of structured payments data can present some banks with challenges, particularly those without an agile infrastructure to process it in real time. To minimize disruption and ensure a smooth migration experience it’s critical that customer and business partner discussions commence early regarding change management plans – this should include creating an implementation roadmap which includes phased implementation plans with anticipated organizational impacts; comprehensive testing should also take place of end-to-end workflows.
Cross-Border Transactions
Standardized messaging systems are critical in improving international payments and integrating cryptocurrencies with traditional financial institutions. Such an infrastructure minimizes errors, lowers costs and accelerates processes by sharing accurate information quickly and reliably.
ISO 20022 will make it easier for financial institutions to verify customers and accounts by providing an exchange of rich data, reducing manual tasks and improving compliance with regulations. Sharing more transaction details also aids fraud prevention efforts by preventing important fields from truncation.
First among them will be stablecoins designed to facilitate cross-border transactions and remittances, such as Ripple XRP (XRP) and Stellar Lumens (XLM), followed by other major cryptos later on. This will pave the way for large-cap cryptocurrencies to be integrated into traditional financial systems more seamlessly – increasing speed and transparency during global transactions.
Innovation Pathway
ISO 20022 opens doors for new financial products and services that leverage transaction data. Banks can utilize information like purpose code, account holder age and turnover type to improve fraud detection while creating personalized products and services such as financial advice for their customers.
Furthermore, MX messages with standard formats help banks lower integration overhead and operational costs by improving data quality and decreasing manual errors; leading to improved customer service and greater efficiency for banks.
Ripple (XRP Ledger’s native token) is one of the few cryptocurrency assets compliant with the new MX standard, making it an attractive option for international payments and remittances. Adopting MX standards may drive further demand for this cryptocurrency that already enjoys significant liquidity globally. Algorand, another ISO-compliant blockchain network focused on scalability and security with fast transaction confirmation times is another ISO-compliant cryptocurrency option.
